Abstract
High-resolution records of Ca and Sr were obtained from shipboard XRF analyses of bulk sediments in five gravity cores from the southern Cape Basin, South Atlantic Ocean. Sr/Ca ratios display regular glacial/interglacial variations of 14–40% and reveal a close correlation with the SPECMAP record, minimum Sr/Ca ratios appearing during glacial (δ18 O) maxima, distinct increases during periods of deglaciation, and highest ratios in interstadials. Shifts in carbonate-producing phytoplankton and/or zooplankton assemblages over glacial/interglacial cycles are suggested to be the main cause for the observed variations in Sr/Ca patterns. Quick assessment of the relationship between Sr/Ca ratios and the SPECMAP record made it possible to easily transfer an age model to the newly collected cores already during the cruise.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abrantes F (2000) 200,000 years diatom records from Atlantic upwelling sites reveal maximum productivity during LGM and a shift in phytoplankton community structure at 185,000 years. Earth Planet Sci Lett 176:7–16
Berger WH (1970) Planktonic foraminifera: selective solution and the lysocline. Mar Geol 8:111–138
Berger WH (1977) Deep-sea carbonate and the deglaciation preservation spike in pteropods and foraminifera. Nature 269:301–304
Berger WH, Wefer G (1996) Central themes of South Atlantic circulation. In: Wefer G, Berger WH, Siedler G, Webb D (eds) The South Atlantic: present and past circulation. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 1–11
Berger WH, Bonneau M-C, Parker FL (1982) Foraminifera on the deep-sea floor: lysocline and dissolution rate. Oceanol Acta 5:249–258
Berger WH, Lange CB, Wefer G (2002) Upwelling history of the Benguela–Namibia system: a synthesis of Leg 175 results. In: Wefer G, Berger WH, Richter C (eds) Proceedings of the ODP Sci Results 175. http://www-odp.tamu.edu/publications/175_SR/synth/synth.htm
Bertrand P, Cruise Participants (1997) Les rapports de campagne à la mer à bord du Marion Dufresne – Campagne NAUSICAA–IMAGES II–MD105 du 20/10/96 au 25/11/96. Institut Français pour la Recherche et la Technologie Polaires Brest-Iroise, Rep 97-1
Bertrand P, Giraudeau J, Malaize B, Martinez P, Gallinari M, Pedersen TF, Pierre C, Vénec-Peyré MT (2002) Occurrence of an exceptional carbonate dissolution episode during early glacial isotope stage 6 in the southeastern Atlantic. Mar Geol 180:235–248
Boeckel B (2003) Late Quaternary coccolith assemblages from the south-eastern South Atlantic Ocean: implications for the palaeoceanographic evolution of the Benguela and Agulhas Current systems during the past 250 kyr. In: Present and past coccolith assemblages in the South Atlantic: implications for species ecology, carbonate contribution and palaeoceanographic applicability. PhD Thesis, University of Bremen, Ber Fachber Geowissen Bremen 211, pp 59–84
Boyd AJ, Nelson G (1998) Variability of the Benguela current off the cape Peninsula, South Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 19:27–40
Brown SJ, Elderfield H (1996) Variations in Mg/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios of planktonic foraminifera caused by postdepositional dissolution: evidence of shallow Mg-dependent dissolution. Paleoceanography 11:543–551
Chen M-T, Chang Y-P, Chang C-C, Wang L-W, Wang C-H, Yu E-F (2002) Late Quaternary sea-surface temperature variations in the southeast Atlantic: a planktic foraminifer faunal record of the past 600,000 years (IMAGES II MD962085). Mar Geol 180:163–181
Crawford RJM (1998) Response of African penguins to regime changes of sardine and anchovy in the Benguela system. S Afr J Mar Sci 19:355–364
Demarcq H, Barlow RG, Shillington FA (2003) Climatology and variability of sea surface temperature and surface chlorophyll in the Benguela and Agulhas ecosystems as observed by satellite imagery. Afr J Mar Sci 25:363–372
Elderfield H, Cooper M, Ganssen G (2000) Sr/Ca in multiple species of planktonic foraminifera: implications for reconstructions of seawater Sr/Ca. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 1:1999GC000031
Emiliani C (1955) Pleistocene temperatures. J Geol 63:538–578
Flores J-A, Gersonde R, Sierro FJ (1999) Pleistocene fluctuations in the Agulhas Current retroflection based on the calcareous plankton record. Mar Micropaleontol 37(1):1–22
Gammelsrød T, Bartholomae CH, Boyer DC, Filipe VLL, O’Toole MJ (1998) Intrusion of warm surface water along the Angolan–Namibian coast in February–March 1995: the 1995 Benguela Niño. S Afr J Mar Sci 19:41–56
Gingele FX, Schmiedl G (1999) Comparison of independent proxies in the reconstruction of deep-water circulation in the south-east Atlantic off Namibia. S Afr J Mar Sci 21:181–190
Giraudeau J (1993) Planktonic foraminiferal assemblages in surface sediments from the southwest African continental margin. Mar Geol 110:47–62
Giraudeau J, Rogers J (1994) Phytoplankton biomass and sea-surface temperature estimates from sea-bed distribution of nanofossils and planktonic foraminifera in the Benguela upwelling system. Micropalaeontology 40:275–285
Gordon AL (2003) The brawniest retroflection. Nature 421:904–905
Griffiths MH (2003) Stock structure of snoek Thyrsites atun in the Benguela: a new hypothesis. Afr J Mar Sci 25:383–386
Imbrie J, Hays JD, Martinson DG, McIntyre A, Mix AC, Morley JJ, Pisias NG, Prell WL, Shackleton NJ (1984) The orbital theory of Pleistocene climate: support from a revised chronology of the marine d18 O record. In: Berger AL, Imbrie J, Hays J, Kukla G, Saltzman B (eds) Milankovitch and climate. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp 269–305
Imbrie J, McIntyre A, Mix AC (1989) Oceanic response to orbital forcing in the late Quaternary: observational and experimental strategies. In: Berger A, Schneider SH, Duplessy J-C (eds) Climate and geosciences, a challenge for science and society in the 21st century. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 121–164
Lohmann GP (1995) A model for variation in the chemistry of planktonic foraminifera due to secondary calcification and selective dissolution. Paleoceanography 10:445–458
Lutjeharms JRE (1996) The exchange of water between the South Indian and South Atlantic oceans. In: Wefer G, Berger WH, Siedler G, Webb D (eds) The South Atlantic: present and past circulation. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 125–162
Lutjeharms JRE, Webb DJ, de Cuevas BA, Thompson SR (1995) Large-scale modelling of the south-east Atlantic upwelling system. S Afr J Mar Sci 16:205–225
Martin P, Lea D, Mashiotta T, Papenfuss T, Sarnthein M (1999) Variation of foraminiferal Sr/Ca over Quaternary glacial-interglacial cycles: evidence for changes in mean ocean Sr/Ca? Geochem Geophys Geosyst 1:1999GC000006
Martinson DG, Pisias NG, Hays JD, Imbrie J, Moore TCJ, Shackleton NJ (1987) Age dating and the orbital theory of the ice ages: development of a high-resolution 0 to 300,000-year chronostratigraphy. Quat Res 27:1–29
McIntyre A, Ruddiman WF, Karlin K, Mix AC (1989) Surface water response of the equatorial Atlantic Ocean to orbital forcing. Paleoceanography 4:19–55
Mitchell-Innes BA, Richardson AJ, Painting SJ (1999) Seasonal changes in phytoplankton biomass on the western Agulhas Bank, South Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 21:217–233
Nelson G, Boyd AJ, Agenbag JJ, Duncombe Rae CM (1998) An upwelling filament north-west of Cape Town, South Africa. S Afr J Mar Sci 19:75–88
Paillard D, Labeyrie L, Yiou P (1996) Macintosh program performs time-series analysis. EOS Trans AGU 77:379
Peeters FJC, Acheson R, Brummer G-JA, de Ruijter WPM, Schneider RR, Ganssen GM, Ufkes E, Kroon D (2004) Vigorous exchange between the Indian and Atlantic oceans at the end of the past five glacial periods. Nature 430:661–665
Pisias NG, Martinson DG, Moore JTC, Shackleton NJ, Prell W, Hays J, Boden G (1984) High resolution stratigraphic correlation of benthic oxygen isotopic records spanning the last 300,000 years. Mar Geol 56:119–136
Rau AJ, Rogers J, Lutjeharms JRE, Giraudeau J, Lee-Thorp JA, Chen M-T, Waelbroeck C (2002) A 450-kyr record of hydrological conditions on the western Agulhas Bank Slope, south of Africa. Mar Geol 180:183–201
Schiebel R (2002) Planktic foraminiferal sedimentation and the marine calcite budget. Global Biogeochem Cycles 16:10.1029/2001GB001459
Schlanger SO (1988) Strontium storage and release during deposition and diagenesis of marine carbonates related to sea-level variations. In: Lerman A, Meybeck M (eds) Physical and chemical weathering in geochemical cycles. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 323–339
Schmiedl G, Mackensen A (1997) Late Quaternary paleoproductivity and deep water circulation in the eastern South Atlantic Ocean: evidence from benthic foraminifera. Palaeogeogr Palaeoclimatol Palaeoecol 130:43–80
Schneider R, Cruise Participants (2003) Report and preliminary results of Meteor cruise M 57-1, Cape Town–Walvis Bay, 20.01.2003–08.02.2003. Ber Fachber Geowissen Bremen 216
Shackleton NJ, Opdyke ND (1973) Oxygen isotope and palaeomagnetic stratigraphy of equatorial Pacific core V28-238: oxygen isotope temperatures and ice volumes on a 105 years and 106 years scale. Quat Res 3:39–55
Shannon LV, Nelson G (1996) The Benguela: large features and processes and system variability. In: Wefer G, Berger WH, Siedler G, Webb D (eds) The South Atlantic: present and past circulation. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 163–210
Shen C-C, Hastings DW, Lee T, Chiu C-H, Lee M-Y, Wei K-Y, Edwards RL (2001) High precision glacial-interglacial benthic foraminiferal Sr/Ca records from the eastern equatorial Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea. Earth Planet Sci Lett 190:197–209
Skogen MD (1999) A biophysical model applied to the Benguela upwelling system. S Afr J Mar Sci 21:235–249
Skogen MD, Shannon LJ, Stiansen JE (2003) Drift patterns of anchovy Engraulis capensis larvae in the southern Benguela, and their possible importance for recruitment. Afr J Mar Sci 25:37–47
Spieß V, Cruise Participants (1993) Report and preliminary results of Meteor cruise M 23-1, Cape Town–Rio de Janeiro, 04.02.1993–25.02.1993. Ber Fachber Geowissen Bremen 42
Steinke TD, Ward CJ (2003) Use of plastic drift cards as indicators of possible dispersal of propagules of the mangrove Avicennia marina by ocean currents. Afr J Mar Sci 25:169–176
Stoll HM, Schrag DP (1996) Evidence for glacial control of rapid sea level changes in the early Cretaceous. Science 272:1771–1774
Stoll HM, Schrag DP (1998) Effects of Quaternary sea level cycles on strontium in seawater. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 62:1107–1118
Stoll HM, Schrag DP (2000) Coccolith Sr/Ca as a new indicator of coccolithophorid calcification and growth rate. Geochem Geophys Geosyst 1:1999GC000015
Stoll HM, Schrag DP, Clemens SC (1999) Are seawater Sr/Ca variations preserved in Quaternary foraminifera? Geochim Cosmochim Acta 63:3535–3547
Stoll HM, Ziveri P, Geisen M, Probert I, Young JR (2002) Potential and limitations of Sr/Ca ratios in coccolith carbonate: new perspectives from cultures and monospecific samples from sediments. Philos Trans R Soc Lond A 360:719–747
de Villiers S (1999) Seawater strontium and Sr/Ca variability in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Earth Planet Sci Lett 171:623–634
de Villiers S, Shen GT, Nelson BK (1994) The Sr/Ca-temperature relationship in coralline aragonite: influence of variability in (Sr/Ca)seawater and skeletal growth parameters. Geochim Cosmochim Acta 58:197–208
Wien K, Wissmann D, Kölling M, Schulz HD (2005) Fast application of X-ray fluorescence spectrometry aboard ship: how good is the new portable Spectro Xepos analyser? Geo-Mar Lett (in press) DOI s00367-004-0206-x
Acknowledgements
Karsten Enneking, Silvana Hessler, Luzie Schnieders and Rainer Zahn are gratefully acknowledged for helping with the laboratory work during RV Meteor cruise M 57-1. We thank the captain and crew members of this expedition, and Ralph Schneider who, as chief scientist of this leg, took care of organisation and the selection of sites. This research has benefited greatly from discussions with Syee Weldeab and from many helpful suggestions by W.H. Berger. Funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft as part of the DFG-Research Center “Ocean Margins” of the University of Bremen Project No. RCOM0207.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wien, K., Kölling, M. & Schulz, H.D. Close correlation between Sr/Ca ratios in bulk sediments from the southern Cape Basin and the SPECMAP record. Geo-Mar Lett 25, 265–271 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-005-0211-8
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00367-005-0211-8